1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system in which a transmitter transmits a broadcast program and a receiver receives the broadcast program to reproduce the broadcast program. The present invention also relates to a system in which a player reproduces content recorded on recording media.
2. Description of the Background Art
There has been wide implementation of a technique for transmitting content such as video, voice and text by broadcasting or communication or for providing such content through recording media. The recording media include a CD-ROM, a DVD-RAM, a videotape and the like. A user uses a reproducing device such as a TV receiver or a player to reproduce the content.
On the other hand, there are often many electronic devices placed on the periphery of the reproducing device. The electronic devices include an air conditioner and a cooking device in homes. A remote controller for the reproducing device is also one kind of the peripheral electronic devices. In conventional systems, signals provided by broadcasting, communication or recording media represent data independent of such peripheral electronic devices. It is desired to more efficiently use the signals provided by broadcasting, communication or recording media.
In particular, the use of digital communication and broadcasting techniques enables more information to be transmitted by the use of data compression and the like. This allows not only the transmission of broadcast programs including video and voice but also the addition of other information to the broadcast programs, to achieve broadcasting of the combination of the broadcast programs and the additional information in the form of integrated digital content. In this respect, the digital communication and broadcasting techniques are expected to achieve information broadcasting services for a wider range of uses than conventional analog television broadcasting.
The use of digital broadcasting techniques provides a wide variety of services to the user through the information added to the broadcast programs, to allow the user to access the services by means of a receiver designed specifically for the access to the services.
The provision of the wide variety of services in accordance with the contents of the programs to the user requires the user to prepare receivers adaptable sufficiently to the services. However, it is inconvenient for the user to prepare a plurality of receivers in accordance with the services to be accessed.